As a writer, I have read so many works of other writers. I love, Pippa Grant, Lucy Score and Katy Evans. I have learned LJ Shen is loquacious with a mean girl vibe yet layers her characters’ qualities in a way that makes them vulnerable and completely fascinating. Vi Keeland is one of my absolute favorite authors for developing truly broken alpha heroes that you would walk through hot coals for.
But, when I picked up Kennedy Ryan’s book, The Kingmaker, I wasn’t sure I would ever be the same again. Each writer above has a certain strength for developing compelling characters or amazing romance with a slow burn culminating in incredible love scenes or having an incredible knack for research. But Kennedy Ryan brings all that together and leaves you with your mind blown.
The fact that The Kingmaker opens with protests and police is a stark reminder of what we are experiencing in our country right now. Be forewarned. There are passages in the beginning that will trigger feelings you may be experiencing right now watching the protesting and violence happening in the United States.
I wanted to wait until Kennedy was releasing her new book, Queen Move, before I shared these reviews with you. Why? Because I had a terrible book hangover when I finished The Rebel King. I didn’t want you to have the same lot. I wanted you to have another book to read in the same incredible world.
Queen Move, Kennedy Ryan’s newest release, picks up with a prominent character, Kimba, who has a substantial role in Kingmaker and The Rebel King. I can’t tell you how much I have looked forward to her new release.
What strikes me about this book is the incredible amount of research that that goes into the Kingmaker. Kennedy Ryan has garnered cultural, tribal and historical references about the Apache culture that adds amazing depth to this story.
The book starts out with Lennix Moon who has just completed her sunrise ceremony at 13. As an American Indian girl becomes a woman, Kennedy reverently describes this ancient tribal ceremony that includes arduous training such as running in each of the four directions in which the girl will gather the four elements to herself.
That first chapter ends with Lennix’s mother’s death. By that time, you are hooked. The second chapter begins with Lennnix brandishing a bull horn at a protest of a pipeline being built across her tribes’ ancient burial grounds. This is where we first meet Maxime Cade, son of Warren Cade and President of the company who is building the pipeline. Father and son arrive at the pipeline site to disperse the protesters. Only when Maxime sees this young girl, Lennix, something in him clicks and he realizes he must save her as the security team is moving forward with a pack of dogs on the protesters. Maxime is captivated by Lennix’s countenance and command of the crowd, but he recognizes she’s in danger and he jumps into action. He runs to protect her. It’s gripping.
Kennedy expertly describes how the protesters are being treated and which elements are coming into play. Many of the protesters are picked up, arrested, and taken to jail. This is where Maxime and Lennix really have a chance to talk. Maxim discovers Lennix is 17 and he is 24 and just finished his undergrad degree. His plans include moving on to get his masters and PhD in Climate Science.
Kennedy is a master at being able to position an Alpha hero against a very independent and self-possessed heroine. This book was such a delight to read.
5 stars.
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The Rebel King
The Rebel King picks up where, The Kingmaker, leaves off. Lennix is taken and kidnapped with her best friend Wallace on a service trip. This very scary event hooks you immediately as the kidnapper asks for a ransom and Maxime gets involved. It brings Maxime and Lennix’s father together at a time when the stakes are high. Lennix’s father is surprised Lennix and Maxime are dating. Brock Grimbsy starts to prepare a team to find Lennix and Wallace and once located, Maxime insists on coming along.
Without spoiling it, Kennedy Ryan keeps the danger high and safety a paramount concern for these two lovers. Maxime makes a huge decision that Lennix supports, but once the question of marriage comes, Lennix falters. Her strong, independent spirit conflicts with her desire to be with the man she loves.
In the end, I loved the history of the Apache people that Kennedy Ryan shares throughout the book. The animosity between Lennix and Maxime’s father, Warren Cade, is palpable. The families of Lennix and Maxime are so completely different and not accepting of the relationship between these incredibly strong individuals.
In many stories, the female character is pretty self-possessed and strong. But this has got to be the strongest female heroine I’ve ever read. Lennix Moon Hunter needed a man like Maxime Kingsman Cade who could love her in her strength and shelter her when she felt vulnerable. What’s amazing in this story is that at some point she does the same for Maxime. They are equally matched, and The Rebel King is a perfect exclamation point of a beautiful story told by a masterful storyteller.
I can’t wait to read the story of Lennix’s business partner, Kimba in Queen Move.
5 Stars
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Queen Move Blurb
From Wall Street Journal, USA Today Bestselling and RITA® Award-winning Author Kennedy Ryan, comes a captivating second chance romance like only she can deliver…
The boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have…
Dig a little and you’ll find photos of me in the bathtub with Ezra Stern.
Get your mind out of the gutter. We were six months old.
Pry and one of us might confess we saved our first kiss for each other. The most clumsy, wet, sloppy . . . spectacular thirty seconds of my adolescence.
Get into our business and you’ll see two families, closer than blood, torn apart in an instant.
Twenty years later, my “awkward duckling” best friend from childhood, the boy no one noticed, is a man no one can ignore.
Finer. Fiercer. Smarter.
Taken.
Tell me it’s wrong.
Tell me the boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have.
When we find each other again, everything stands in our way–secrets, lies, promises.
But we didn’t come this far to give up now.
And I know just the move to make if I want to make him mine.
Tap HERE https://smarturl.it/rkuqsl if you are interested in getting a copy of “Queen Mover” for yourself! Or, follow me on Bookbub.